21 summer flowers for the most colourful home garden
Pool weather and barbecues are nice, but the kaleidoscope of colours that springs from the ground might be summertime’s greatest draw. Let these 21 summer flowers—in bright colours and beguiling shapes—inspire you to plant a posy-filled plot of your own. Among these picks, you’ll find perennials beloved by pro-gardeners as well as low-maintenance buds fit for beginners. There are blossoms that reach 15 feet tall, blooms that’ll scent the breeze coming through your windows, and petals sure to attract pollinators like butterflies and hummingbirds to your yard. So locate your trowel and ready your watering can. It’s time to get growing.
How do you care for summer flowers?
Care instructions for the following 21 blooms vary depending on the flower and where you live. But there’s one detail every grower should know—their hardiness zone. This is the standard gardeners use to determine which plants will thrive in a given location.
What summer flowers are best for a balcony garden?
No need to have rolling acreage or even a lawn. Below you’ll find small garden ideas with flowers that are suitable for porches and balconies. Pay particular attention to hydrangeas, marigolds, geraniums, gardenias, petunias, and petite knockout roses.
Which summer flowers are the most fragrant?
For a garden that not only looks great, but smells sweet too, consider certain varieties of geraniums (more below), gardenias, lavender, and bee balm.
What summer flowers are best for bouquets?
Skip the florist and head out to your own garden for cut flowers and artful arrangements. The key to growing blooms that’ll work in a bouquet is choosing plants with hardy stems. Zinnias, gerbera daisies, and oriental lilies offer a range of colours that are snip worthy.
Photo: Olena Ruban/Getty Images1/21Sunflower
If you had to crown the quintessential summer flower, this towering beauty would be a top candidate for the title. Symbols of the season, sunflowers can grow up to 15 feet tall with flower heads that are over a foot in diameter (talk about bang for your bloom). Smaller varieties—like sundance kid, little Becka, and double dandy—grow to only one to two feet tall.
Photo: Keri Wilson/Garden Media Group2/21Blanketflower
Pack a tricoloured punch with blanketflower, which has blossoms that are red, orange, and yellow. “Its vibrant daisy-like blooms are highly attractive to pollinators and provide an abundance of pollen and nectar for bees and butterflies,” says Mary Phillips, head of native plant habitat strategy/certifications at the National Wildlife Federation. Another advantage: This flower is heat-tolerant.
Photo: glennimage/Getty Images3/21Zinnia
Beloved for flower beds, zinnias are prolific bloomers and grow quickly. They also have strong stems, which makes them ideal for cutting. “The magnificent blooms [of zinnias], spanning two to four inches, are perfect for creating stunning floral arrangements,” says Carrie Spoonemore, cocreator of Park Seed’s From Seed to Spoon app. Spoonemore recommends planting the queeny lime orange variety of zinnia, which “boasts a multilayered display of apricot, green, red, orange, and yellow hues.”
Photo: Jularlak Heinsdorff/Getty Images4/21Coneflower
Picture pink petals with vibrant lime-green tips. These are prairie blaze vintage lime coneflowers, ideal summer flowers for adding vibrant pops to a garden, Spoonemore says. “This showy perennial wildflower blooms from mid spring to late summer, with occasional blooms extending into fall.” Coneflowers, in general, are prized perennials because they’re heat and drought-resistant and known for attracting butterflies and songbirds.
Photo: Alex Manders/Getty Images5/21Dahlia
Dahlia varieties include perfectly round pompoms, star-like stems, and dinner-plate-size displays of vibrant pink-and-orange petals. In addition to a wide range of shapes and colours, dahlias are popular for their extended blooming season, which usually runs from mid summer to first frost. Their strong stems also make them ideal for snipping and adding to indoor arrangements.
Photo: Southern Living® Plant Collection/Kathleen Schmucker6/21Gerbera Daisy
Give your garden a jolt of electric colour with these perennial flowers that come in orange, yellow, red, and even hot pink. Gerberas are the gifts that keep on giving, as they have a long bloom season—from late spring to fall. Linda Vater, a gardening expert at Southern Living Plant Collection is a fan of the appropriately named garden jewels variety. She says, “These radiant daisies are blooming machines that transition seamlessly from your garden to your vase, allowing you to extend the joy of your summer garden indoors.”
Photo: Mark Sandlin/Garden Media Group7/21Hydrangea
For a blooming bush, Vater recommends the elegant and romantic white wedding hydrangea, which thrives in sunny spaces. “This pillowy panicle hydrangea is ideal for various garden settings and makes a breathtaking accent shrub, flowering hedge, or graceful backdrop to a vibrant and colourful flower bed,” she says. In general, hydrangeas can be grown in the ground or in containers, making them ideal for porches and decks too.
Photo: wulingyun/Getty Images8/21Marigold
There are three main types of marigolds: African (the largest), French, and signet (the smallest). While the first two types should be planted in the ground, signet marigolds can be grown in containers, as they usually only reach six inches tall. But for the absolute biggest blooms, Spoonemore recommends a variety called park’s whopper orange marigold. “This sturdy and free-blooming flower reaches 18 inches tall and 12 inches wide, forming a solid wall of flowers throughout the summer, making it an excellent option for compact spaces,” she says.
Photo: AndreaAstes/Getty Images9/21Delphinium
Like the skyscrapers of the flower world, delphiniums will add height to your garden with their petal-packed stalks that are usually blue or purple. Though they’re structurally stunning, they can also be high maintenance, requiring just the right conditions to grow. They’ll need six to eight hours of sun each day, and should be protected from strong winds and driving rain.
Photo: Ali Majdfar/Getty Images10/21Black-Eyed Susans
“Black-eyed Susans add a touch of sunshine to any garden setting, with bright yellow petals and contrasting dark-brown cone-shaped centers,” Phillips says. “A continuous blooming habit ensures that the garden stays vibrant throughout the summer.” As an added bonus, black-eyed Susans provide an abundant food source for pollinators and their seed heads become a feast for birds in the winter.
Photo: Southern Living® Plant Collection11/21Agapanthus
These scrappy stems can survive a variety of conditions, including drought and colder temps. Vater recommends the ever sapphire variety. “Unlike many summer flowers that fade with the heat, ever sapphire agapanthus blooms with unwavering intensity,” she says. “Multiple flower spikes filled with a profusion of deep blue trumpet-shaped blooms add a touch of cool elegance to your landscape, even on the hottest days.” In an arrangement, they look particularly eye-catching next to yellow flowers, like daylilies, marigolds, or lantana.
Photo: Isabel Pavia/Getty Images12/21Geranium
Queens of container gardens, geraniums are an excellent choice for hanging baskets, window boxes, or porch planters. They’re easy to care for and are abundant bloomers, coming in a range of hues, including white, pink, purple, red, and orange. Some varieties are even scented, such as sweet mimosa, which smells like lemon and rose; and orange fizz, which has a citrus scent.
Photo: Garden Media Group13/21Gardenia
There’s a reason many perfumes have notes of gardenia. These white flowers with contrasting dark green leaves are adored for their intoxicating scents. For an especially fragrant variety, Vater recommends diamond spire gardenia. “Single white blossoms release a captivating, sweet scent that dances between spicy and zesty notes,” she says. Plant them in containers near a walkway or front door for an aromatic welcome.
Photo: Deb Perry/Getty Images14/21Lavender
Lavender is not only lovely, it’s remarkably useful. Cook with it, dry it out and use it in a sachet, or leave it in the ground to repel pests with its high essential oil content. As for a favorite variety for the season, Spoonemore recommends French long lavender, a.k.a. Spanish lavender. She says, “French long lavender stands out as a quintessential summer flower for its beloved calming fragrance.”
Photo: Clive Nichols/Getty Images15/21Allium
What does this pretty pink, purple, or white flower have to do with a leek? They’re actually related. Leeks, onions, shallots, garlic, and this perennial plant are all part of the genus Allium. In flower form, allium is especially striking—like something from a Dr. Seuss book. Globes of tiny petals sit perched upon long stems. They’ll add height to your garden and a unique touch to bouquets.
Photo: Dave G Kelly/Getty Images16/21Petunia
The prolific petunia blooms from spring to first frost and works as ground cover or a container flower. For a prime container petunia, Spoonemore likes superbissima wine red, “a robust and giant-flowered variety that’s an excellent choice for balconies or porches.” Though petunias are easy to grow, they do require plenty of light. For a similar flowering plant that can handle partial shade, go with impatiens.
Photo: Garden Media Group17/21Knockout Rose
Roses have a rep for being stunning yet particularly difficult to maintain. That’s where the knockout comes in. This cultivar was bred to be the easygoing flower of the rose family. No specialized care is required, and the knockout is disease-resistant and drought-tolerant. For porch or balcony gardens, go with the container-friendly petite knockout. “You’ll find it covered throughout the season with tons of fire-engine red blooms that are petite themselves,” says Heidi Mortensen, the rose portfolio manager at Star Roses and Plants.
Photo: Cynthia Shirk/Getty Images18/21Bee Balm
The name says it all. These native wildflowers—also called wild bergamot—attract pollinators. Phillips says, “Native bee balm offers effortless beauty with vibrant purple blooms that add a touch of whimsical charm to the garden, attracting hummingbirds and other beneficial insect pollinators into the landscape.” They’ll also attract human admirers with their alluring citrus scent.
Photo: brytta/Getty Images19/21Peony
Seeing peonies in bloom is a sign that summer is just around the corner. These large and lushly layered perennial flowers can bloom for decades if cared for correctly, including getting full sun and well-drained soil. They also do well with regular deadheading, plus pruning in the fall. Choose between three main types: herbaceous, which grows on stems; tree, a woody shrub that blooms earlier than herbaceous; and Itoh, a hybrid between herbaceous and tree.
Photo: Garden Media Group20/21Hibiscus
Though typically associated with tropical locales, hibiscus can grow in more temperate climates—it all depends on the variety you choose. One variety that’s particularly versatile is the head over heels passion hibiscus, which is suitable for zones 4–10. Additionally, “It’s treasured for its giant, deep pink flowers that are 10 inches across,” Mortensen says. “Once the plant starts blooming, new flowers will open each morning.”
Photo: Steven Bemelman/Garden Media Group21/21Oriental lilies
Looking for a late bloomer? Oriental lilies usually make an appearance in August (Asian lilies, on the other hand, bloom in June or July). They’re also ideal for arrangements, producing “six-to-eight-inch, intensely fragrant blossoms that are perfect for cutting,” says horticulturist Peggy Anne Montgomery of Flowerbulb.eu. “Cut at the coloured bud stage, and they will last 12–14 days in the vase.”
